Financial card with a per-transaction user definable magnetic strip portion

ABSTRACT

A financial card having a body with a front surface and a back surface and a primary account number associated with a primary account of a user of the financial card, the card including a magnetic strip positioned on the back surface configured for magnetic encoding including the primary account number. The magnetic strip includes a user definable portion for providing a selectable discretionary encoding thereto. The card also includes a user interface having at least one user input device positioned on the body of the financial card. The user interface is configured for receiving input from the user at a time of use of the financial card selecting a particular account indicator from among a plurality of account indicators each of which is associated with the primary account. The user interface is coupled to the user input device and to the user definable portion of the magnetic strip for providing the selectable discretionary encoding to the user definable portion of the magnetic strip responsive to the selected particular account indicator as received by the user interface at the time of use by the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 12/498,953 filed on Jul. 7, 2009 entitled FINANCIALCARDS AND METHODS FOR PER-TRANSACTION PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT,companion to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/498,941 filed on Jul.7, 2009 entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PER-TRANSACTION FINANCIAL CARDENABLED PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT; and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/498,946 filed on Jul. 7, 2009 entitled TRANSACTION PROCESSINGSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PER-TRANSACTION PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a financial transaction card and, morespecifically, to a financial card-enabled personal financial accountmanagement systems and methods.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Financial cards are used by individuals and businesses for the paymentof amounts owed for a purchase. These financial cards represent afinancial account of that of a user with a financial institution whereinthe user has opened an account and has agreed to reimburse the financialinstitution for transactions where the card is a credit card or the useragrees to prefund the account with a prefunded amount from which thepurchases are subtracted where the card is a debit or prepaid card. Eachof these cards includes a financial account number that is unique tothat particular financial card and that uniquely identify the financialaccount of that particular user and card. Each financial account and/orfinancial card can also have an associated security code and/or personalidentification number (PIN).

The user of the card presents the financial card either at the time of apurchase for processing using a point of sale transaction terminal thatenters the account number and can also include entering the PIN orsecurity code. A similar process is handled via manual input for on-linepayment systems or to agents of third parties over the telephone. Inthis later case, the account number and possibly the PIN and securitycode are entered by the agent into a similar transaction processingsystem for providing such information for processing of the payment of atransaction amount. A centralized transaction processing system of thefinancial institution receives the financial account number and thesecurity code or PIN from the transaction processing entity along withthe identification of the payee, authorizes the payment, and arrangesfor the transfer of the transaction amount from the financial account ofthe user to the designated account or financial institution of thepayee. The transaction amount is either deducted from the prepaid fundsof the financial account of a user where the financial account and cardare prepaid or debit accounts or is reflected as a credit purchase inthe user's account for a credit account that is subsequently billed tothe user for payment reimbursement to the user's financial institution.

Generally, these financial cards, the financial account, the transactionprocessing systems at the point of sale or entry and the transactionprocessing system of the financial institution are only capable of asingle financial account and a single financial account number. As such,the user must manage their purchases and/or prefunding of the debit cardaccount on a total account basis and can only allocate the purchases forpersonal financial management as a separate process individually. Whileusers often have aided their management through opening of multipleaccounts with the same or multiple financial institutions, these requiredifferent financial accounts and different financial cards, which isoften not desirable to the user.

SUMMARY

The inventor hereof has succeeded at designing a financial card thatenables per-transactional user definable magnetic encoding of a portionof the magnetic strip. Such financial card will enable users to managetheir account on a per transactional basis by indicating user selectablesubaccounts or other indicators that are read off the magnetic strip andprocessing by the transactional processing system and financial cardissuing entity for offering new services to the financial card user.

According to one aspect, a financial card having a body with a frontsurface and a back surface and a primary account number associated witha primary account of a user of the financial card, the card including amagnetic strip positioned on the back surface configured for magneticencoding including the primary account number. The magnetic stripincludes a user definable portion for providing a selectablediscretionary encoding thereto. The card also includes a user interfacehaving at least one user input device positioned on the body of thefinancial card. The user interface is configured for receiving inputfrom the user at a time of use of the financial card selecting aparticular account indicator from among a plurality of accountindicators each of which is associated with the primary account. Theuser interface is coupled to the user input device and to the userdefinable portion of the magnetic strip for providing the selectablediscretionary encoding to the user definable portion of the magneticstrip responsive to the selected particular account indicator asreceived by the user interface at the time of use by the user.

According to another aspect, a financial card having a body with a frontsurface and a back surface and a primary account number associated witha primary account of a user of the financial card. The card has amagnetic strip positioned on the back surface configured for magneticencoding including the primary account number. The magnetic stripincluding a user definable portion for providing a selectablediscretionary encoding and an adaptable longitudinal redundancy checkencoding. A user interface has a plurality of blister buttons positionedon the front surface of the financial card each of which is associatedwith a different account one or a plurality of account indicators of thefinancial card. The user interface is configured for receiving inputfrom the user at a time of use of the financial card selecting aparticular account indicator from among the plurality of accountindicators. The user interface is coupled to the user definable portionof the magnetic strip for providing the selectable discretionaryencoding and the adaptable longitudinal redundancy cheek encoding to theuser definable portion of the magnetic strip wherein each are responsiveto the selected particular account indicator as received by the userinterface at the time of use by the user.

According to yet another aspect, a financial card having a body with afront surface and a back surface, a magnetic strip, and a primaryaccount number associated with a primary account of a user of thefinancial card, the card comprising: means for receiving a particularsubaccount indicator from among a plurality of subaccount indicatorsassociated with the primary account at the time of use of the financialcard for a financial transaction; means for determining a value of anadaptable longitudinal redundancy check responsive to the receivedparticular subaccount indicator; and means for encoding a user definableportion of the magnetic strip to include the received particularsubaccount indicator and the value of the adaptable longitudinalredundancy check.

Further aspects of the present disclosure will be in part apparent andin part pointed out below. It should be understood that various aspectsof the disclosure may be implemented individually or in combination withone another. It should also be understood that the detailed descriptionand drawings, while indicating certain exemplary embodiments, areintended for purposes of illustration only and should not be construedas limiting the scope of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a personal financial management systemaccording to one exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and rear views of a financial card forpersonal financial management according to one exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective view of magnetic strips having userdefinable portions for a financial card according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are front perspective views of two different financialcards having user interfaces with blister buttons on the front face forselecting subaccounts for a transaction according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are internal views of three embodiments of afinancial card for personal financial management having wheel operateduser inputs adapted for user manipulation for selecting a particularsubaccount for a transaction according to one exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a financial card having a user interface witha user operable wheel for selecting a subaccount for a transactionaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for use with atransaction processing system and/or financial account management systemaccording to various embodiments of this disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a user definable selectable magnetizingcircuit according to one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure.

It should be understood that throughout the drawings, correspondingreference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is notintended to limit the present disclosure or the disclosure'sapplications or uses. Before turning to the figures and the variousexemplary embodiments illustrated therein, a detailed overview ofvarious embodiments and aspects is provided for purposes of breadth ofscope, context, clarity, and completeness.

As described herein, various embodiments of systems and methods forpersonal financial management using a financial card include a primaryaccount with a plurality of subaccounts within the primary account. Thesubaccounts can be established by the financial institution but utilizedby the user or owner of the primary account to aid and/or enable theuser to personally manage their available funds by selecting asubaccount to apply a particular purchase and payment of a transactionamount. In some embodiments, this can also include prefunding of eachsubaccount for particular personal financial management purpose such aswhere applied in a debit card application. For example, a subaccount canbe established for any reason that can aid a user of the card inmanagement of their personal financials and in particular theirexpenditures to which the financial card is used. For example,subaccounts within the primary account can be established for items suchas housing, rent, entertainment, food, groceries, restaurants,transportation, gasoline, clothing, children's expenses, homeimprovements, educational expenses, business expenses, discretionaryexpenditures, and savings, by ways of example.

The various systems for support of this financial account managementsystem and method include a financial account management system that canbe a centralized financial account management processing system of afinancial institution which can be a credit card/debit card processingsystem. The system and method can also include transaction processingsystems such as point of sale systems that are located at retail storesor seller vendor locations, or on-line via a web business or paymentsystem for processing purchase payment transactions and payment oftransaction amounts within the financial account management system fromthe user's account to a payees account. Additionally, a user paymentdevice, such as a financial card, can provide not only the primaryaccount number for the primary account of the user, but also caninclude, in some cases, the capability for the user to select on thefinancial card a particular subaccount to be used for a particulartransaction payment, and then transference of the user selectedsubaccount indicator to the transaction processing system.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a personal financial management system 100having a variety of different modules and components and embodiments isillustrated. As shown, a financial account management system (FAMS) 102is configured for processing transactions from user selected subaccountsSAs as received from transaction processing systems 104. The FAMS 102 isconfigured to establish the primary account PA having a primary accountnumber PAN and each having two or more subaccounts SA each of which hasa separate subaccount indicator SAI. The subaccount indicator SAI can beany type of alphanumeric indicator and can be of any length. In oneembodiment, there can be from 2 up to 10 subaccounts SAs, which can havesubaccount indicators SAIs from 0 to 9, if a single subaccount indicatoris desirable for system implementation.

Additionally, a maximum of 10 subaccounts SAs may be suited for manyuser applications. However, additional digits in the subaccountindicator can provide for more subaccounts SAs, such as 26 subaccountindicators SAIs if a letter in the alphabet is used or 100 subaccountsSAs if two digits are implemented for the subaccount indicator. The userU provides the FAMS 102 with the identification of the subaccounts SA,possibly a label or category for each, and in some cases a pre-fundedamount or other rule or limits to each as will be discussed in greaterdetail below.

In some embodiments, the financial account management system 102supports a pre-paid debit card that uses an industry standard cardnumber but with a new personal identification number (PIN) that issegmented into a prefix or suffix for the subaccount indicator (SAD,such as a single digit in one embodiment, a card user created personalidentification number PIN, and a subaccount indicator SAI. Thesubaccount indicator SAI can be a numeric digit inserted by the user inthe prefix or suffix field that will logically link the correspondingpurchase activity to one of the sub-accounts within the primary accountPA. The financial account management system 102 includes programmingthat enables the financial institution offering the prepaid card serviceto recognize as valid any of the subaccount indicators SAIs to one ofthe predefined and prefunded subaccounts SAs. The financial servicesinstitution programming can further direct the payment transaction PT toone of the subaccounts SAs based on a digit entered in the prefix/suffixfield and received and transmitted by a capable transaction processingsystem 104.

The payment transactions PT are identified by a subaccount indicator SAIassociated with a single primary account number PAN in real time or nearreal time at the time of processing the payment of each transactionamount TA to a payee (PY) that in many cases originate at a cashregister or purchase payment system 112 that transmits the payeeidentification number PID along with the transaction amount TA to thetransaction processing system 104. Each payment transaction PT includesprocessing each transaction amount TA from the user selected prefundedsubaccounts SAs by indicating at the time of each transaction aparticular subaccount indicator SAI indicating the particular subaccountSA to be used for that transaction. The personal financial managementsystem 100 can include a transaction processing system 104, 106, 108,which are generically referred to herein as transaction processingsystem 104, but also specifically referred to as transaction processingsystem 106 wherein the system is a point of sale transaction system 106and as a transaction processing system 108 wherein the system in anonline processing system such as a webpage or web portal payment systemor third party agent on a telephone line that enters such transactionprocessing information.

A financial card 110 can be any type of financial card such as a debitor prepaid card. The primary financial account PFA typically has one ormore financial cards 110 each having the primary account number PAN onthe card. However, as described herein, each PA with PAN has associatedwith it a plurality of user defined and managed subaccounts SAs eachhaving a user defined and selectable subaccount indictor SAI. Thetransaction processing systems 104 are configured to connect into alocal user purchasing system to receive the transaction amount TA, andthen receive from the user the primary account number PAN and the userselected subaccount indicator SAI at the time of purchase.

In some embodiments, the user can establish prepaid amounts or budgetfor each subaccount SA within the primary account PA and enables theuser to designate at the time of a purchase which one of the pluralityof subaccounts SAs to utilize for the particular purchase and payment ofthe associated transaction amount TA to the payee PY. However, as alsonoted, where a credit card embodiment is utilized, the subaccounts SAsare not necessarily prefunded, but there can be rules or limitationsestablished for each credit card subaccount SA as a way of enabling theuser to budget and manage within predefined credit expenditure levels.

The user designation of the subaccount SA can be provided, in oneembodiment, by the user entering an additional subaccount indicator SAI,or wherein the user can enter it into a user interface of the financialcard that is then input by the card into the transaction processingsystem 104 at the time of payment. The subaccount indicator SAI can be acharacter or digit or code encoded in digital bits that is separatelyentered or that is entered at the beginning or end of the user's PINentry. The user designated subaccount indicator SAI is received by thetransaction procession system and transmitted to the financial accountmanagement system 102 of the financial institution wherein paymenttransactions PT are processed. That system 102 manages the paymenttransactions PT based not only on the primary account PA, but also thesubaccount SA within the primary account PA. The financial accountmanagement system 102 as addressed above includes subaccounts SAs that,in some embodiments, have had pre-funded or defined spending limits foreach subaccount SA. In such embodiments, after the user pre-funds eachsubaccount SA that can be particular classifications or types ofpurchases or transactions, the user can designate the particularsubaccount SA at the time of a payment transaction PT so as topersonally and proactively manage their personal financials within thepredefined limits or pre-established rules of the subaccounts SAsthereby enabling the user to not only budget for categories of spending,but also to manage those budgets in real time at the time of each andevery transaction, to within limits or budgets for food, clothing,entertainment, gas/transportation, by ways of example. This can beuseful, for example, where a third party such as a parent, provides theprefunding for each subaccount SA, whereby, a minor or student isprovided a prefunded budget for each particular subaccount SA.

In some embodiments, a financial account management system 102 isconfigured for processing payment transactions PT from the user'sprimary account PA and specific subaccounts SA therein to payees PY, asindicated at the time of payment transaction PT by the user thatprovides the subaccount indicator SAI. The financial account managementsystem 102 typically is located in a centralized location that iscommunicatively coupled or connectable to remotely located transactionprocessing systems 104 via network or communication facilities orservices. As such, the financial account management system 102 includesa network interface 116 configured for interfacing with multipletransaction processing systems 104 over a variety of suitablecommunication network links 118. Any suitable protocol can be used andare common in the financial industry to provide secure transmission offinancial information. This secure information includes, but is notlimited to the identification of the transaction amount TA, the primaryaccount number PAN, the subaccount indicator SAI, the user's name, and apayee identification number PID associated with the account to which thetransaction amount should be sent. A database 118 within the FAMS 102includes a plurality of primary accounts PAs for each of the many usersof the financial institution and also includes each of the plurality ofsubaccounts SAs within each PA, along with each of their uniquesubaccount indicators SAIs. Wherein the application is a prefunded debitcard embodiment, instead of not only providing the primary account PAwith a prefunded amount, each of the subaccounts SAs can includeprefunded subaccount amounts as prefunded budgets by subaccount fortransaction processing of the user's expenditures within eachsubaccount. The financial account management system FAMS is configuredfor management and administration of the primary accounts PA and thesubaccounts SAs within each primary account PA and their prefundedsubaccount levels and transactions to and from such, including paymentsand transfers.

In these embodiments, the financial account management system 102manages the funding and transactions in and out of the prefundedsubaccounts SAs, and within the entire primary account PA. The system102 receives payment transactions PT from various transactionsprocessing systems 104 that identify the primary account PA by primaryaccount number PAN and the subaccount SA by the subaccount indicatorSAI, for payment of a transaction amount TA to the payee PY via a fundstransfer interface 120 to a funds transfer operation or system 119 ofthe transaction payment TP that includes the transaction amount TA tothe payee identification number PID of the party to be paid thetransaction amount (TA). To accomplish this, the system 102 processespayment transactions PT with transaction amounts TA from each subaccountSA based on the received primary account number PAN, the receivedsubaccount indicator SAI, the prefunded amount in the subaccount SAassociated with the received subaccount indicator SAI and any rulesestablished for the primary account PA or subaccount SA.

As also shown in FIG. 1, in one embodiment the user can utilizefinancial card 110A for a payment transaction PT. After making apurchase with payee PY, the payee PY completes the payment transactionPT of the transaction amount TA via the user's financial card 110A usinga card reader 122 with the transaction processing system 106. The usercan then enter the subaccount identifier SAI via a user interface 124 ofthe transaction processing system 106, either by itself, or inconjunction with the user entering of their PIN in the UI 124. As asecond example, the financial card 110B may be configured with afinancial card user interface 126 that enables the user to input aselection of a subaccount SA or the subaccount identifier SAI directlyon the card 110B. In such embodiments, the user would present thefinancial card 110B to the card reader 122 wherein the card reader 122would not only obtain the primary account number PAN, but alsoautomatically obtain the subaccount identifier SAI, such as from themagnetic strip if a debit or credit card, or electronically from a SmartCard.

As described, one or more embodiments of the system as described hereincan be utilized for performing a method of providing personal financialmanagement to a user using the financial card 110. One embodiment ofsuch a method includes establishing a primary account PA in thefinancial account management system 102 for payment of transactionsbased on a primary account number PAN and a prefunded amount for theprimary account PA for a user U, as shown in FIG. 1. In addition to theprimary account PA with a primary account number PAN, the user wouldalso establish or create a plurality of subaccounts SAs within theprimary account PA with each having a subaccount indicator SAI. Each canalso have subaccount prefunded amounts within the prefunded amount ofthe primary account PA or have rules or limitations, in some cases. Themethod can also include receiving funding from the user for each of thesubaccounts SAs and receiving a payment transaction PT (request for apayment) from the payee or payee purchase payment system 112 requestingpayment of a transaction amount TA associated on behalf of the user. Thepayment transaction PT can include the transaction amount TA, theprimary account number PAN, and a user selected subaccount indicatorSAI. The user selected subaccount indicator SAI is one of the subaccountindicators SAIs within the primary account PA associated with thereceived primary account number PAN. The method further includesverifying the availability of funds in the subaccount SA associated withthe received subaccount indicator SAI by the FAMS 102. The methodincludes transmitting a transaction authorization TransAuth to thetransaction processing system 104 in response to a positive verificationof available funds within the subaccount SA associated with the receivedsubaccount indicator SAI.

When a payment transaction PT is being processed, if the financialaccount management system 102 determines that there is insufficientfunds available for payment of the transaction amount TA from the userselected prefunded subaccount SA, the payment of the transaction amountTA from the primary financial account PA and the subaccount SA can bedenied. However, in other embodiments, the financial account managementsystem 102 can be configured to transmit a lack of funds indicator ormessage back to the transaction processing system 104 from which thepayment transaction PT originated and therefore to the user. The usercan then be prompted with an indication that insufficient funds areavailable from the previous selected subaccount SA. Additionally, theprompt or message can also include an indication that funds areavailable from a different or alternative subaccount SA_(Alt) within theuser's primary account PA. The financial account management system 102can also prompt or transmit a request for the user at the transactionprocessing system 104 to select an alternative subaccount SA_(Alt) fromwithin the primary account PA rather than denying the processing of thepayment transaction payment PT. The user can then reenter an alternativesubaccount indicator SAI_(A) at the transaction processing system 104that is then retransmitted to the financial account management system102 for payment processing using the alternative subaccount SA_(A)within the primary account PA. For instance, the user may have set up aseparate subaccount SA for discretionary or overage spending that has aseparate subaccount indicator SAI or may chose to utilize a differentsubaccount SA for that particular transaction to allocate prefundedamounts or limits from one subaccount SA to a second subaccount SA forthe particular payment transaction payment PT. The financial accountmanagement system 102 can manage and report these back adjustments ortransfers to the user in their financial account statements of theprimary account PA by listing the subaccounts SA and any issues ortransfers related to one or more thereof In this manner, the user canseparately track and manage each subaccount SA within the primaryaccount PA.

In another embodiment, the financial account management system 102 canprovide the user the ability to pre-establish subaccount rules orprimary account rules that include rules that limit or prearrange forthe transfer of funds between subaccounts SAs. This can address bothreal time user requests for payment transactions PT or can includeautomatic system generated alternative subaccount transfers or fundingbased such as when insufficient funds are in a first user selectedsubaccount SA for a particular payment transaction PT. This can alsoinclude limitations on the transfer of funds between subaccounts SAseven though sufficient funds may be available in other subaccounts SAswithin the primary account PA, such to protect certain categories offunds, such as prefunded amounts for rent, housing or car payments, suchfunds being established as nondiscretionary for other use purchases orpayment transaction PT. The financial account management system 102 canreceive an allocation instruction from the user or a third party of theaccount, such as a parent or guardian, to form rules that are storedwithin the memory 128 as rule instructions 130, e.g., software encodedinstructions. These rules 130 can include an instruction for the futurereallocation of prefunded amounts from a first subaccount SA₁ to asecond subaccount SA₂, both within the same primary account PA with thesame primary account number PAN. The financial account management system102 can also be configured to receive an instruction from the user viathe transaction processing system 104 to cause a real-time transfer forthe processing of the payment transaction PT of the transaction amountTA. In such cases, a special override code or authorization code can berequired to be provided, as provided for by the rule instructions 130and pre-established by the user. The financial account management system102 would then verify the availability or validity of such aninstruction and the availability of funds and if allowable and there issufficient prefunded amount in the selected alternative subaccountSA_(A), the system 102 would process the payment transaction PT from thealternative subaccount SA_(A).

When operable in an integrated system, the financial account managementsystem 102 can be configured for receiving the primary account PA forspecifying a subaccount descriptive label for each of the subaccountsSAs within the primary account PA to aid the user in their personalfinancial management.

The financial account management system 102 is configured to compare thetransaction amount TA with the prefunded amount or predefined creditlimit associated with the subaccount SA of the received subaccountindicator SAI and determines the appropriateness of authorizing thepayment transaction PT. A verification of available prefunded amounts isthen transmitted to the transaction processing system 104 responsive toa successful determination of availability of prefunded amounts oravailable credit, or a lack of funds indication or indicator or messageis transmitted to the transaction processing system 104 responsive to anunsuccessful determination of availability of prefunded amounts oravailable subaccount credit limit.

The prefunded debit card prefunding process can be supported byprogrammed logic to distribute or allocate dollar amounts to each of thesubaccounts SAs within the primary account PA. Techniques employed toaccomplish this prefunding distribution include allocating a percentageof the total to each sub-account or allow for an assignment of specificdollar amounts to each subaccount SA with a count-down feature for theremaining total addition to support the spreading of total dollars addedto the subordinate subaccounts SAs. Additionally, as described herein,the system can enable the user to establish transactions rules thataddress the funding verification, denial or transfer of funds betweensubaccounts SAs that can be applied in real time during transactionprocessing. These and other embodiments will be described in moredetail.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods can include a financialcard 110 for use by the user that is configured specifically to receiveuser input specifying a particular one of the subaccounts SAs at thetime of each purchase that will be used for payment of the particularpayment transaction PT. The transaction processing systems 104 and thefinancial card 110 are configured for automatically transmitting andusing the user specified subaccount SA as entered by the user on thefinancial card 110. Exemplary embodiments of various financial cards andtransaction processing systems 104 for use with the financial card 110will now be explained in more detail. In one embodiment referred toherein as Protect Our Pocket™ personal financial account managementsystem (a trademark of the inventor hereof), a pre-paid debit card canoffer a user friendly method to the card holder to access each of one toten subaccounts SAs within the primary account PA of a single debit cardfor the purpose of improving personal cash budgeting and management. Thetransaction processing system 104 that transacts with the financialaccount management system 102 for processing and approval of eachpayment transaction PT of the user at the time of use and provide forpayment of the transaction amount TA from the user's subaccount SAwithin the primary account PA to the payee to which the user owes thetransaction amount TA.

In some embodiments, the transaction processing system 104 is configuredto transmit the transaction amount, the primary account number PAN andthe received subaccount indicator SAI to the financial accountmanagement system 102. The transaction processing system 104 can beconfigured for initiating the payment of the transaction amount TA andproviding the primary account number PAN to the transaction processingsystem 104. Such systems, such as point of sale systems 106, or onlinetransaction processing system 108 are typically implemented by a retailseller or on-line seller or system.

The transaction processing system 104 as described herein can also beenabled through new and additional features and capabilities to thetransaction processing systems 104, such as point of sale terminal 106that are located in retail establishments or via on-line paymentoperators. One embodiment of such a point of sale transaction processingsystem 106 includes a card reader 122 configured for receiving a primaryaccount number PAN from a debit card 110, a transaction interface 121for receiving a transaction amount TA, a user interface is configuredfor receiving a user authorization, a debit card processing module 106configured for processing of the received debit card information and theuser authorization and a network interface 125 configured forcommunicating with the financial account management system 102 having aplurality of primary accounts PAs including a received primary accountwith prefunded subaccounts SAs.

The user interface 124 is configured to receive a user input identifyinga particular one of the prefunded subaccounts SAs associated with thereceived prefunded primary account PA. The debit card processing module106 is configured to receive the user input identifying the particularprefunded subaccount SA and to initiate a communication over the networkinterface 125 of the received primary account number PAN, the receiveduser authorization, the received transaction amount TA, and the receivedparticular prefunded subaccount SA.

In another embodiment of a transaction processing system 106 for use asa point of sale terminal as described herein, a point of sale terminal106 includes a transaction interface 121 for receiving transactioninformation including a transaction amount TA from a purchase processingsystem 112. A card reader 122 is configured to read a financial card 110having a primary account PA with a primary account number PAN associatedwith the financial card 110. The card reader 122 is also configured toreceive a user selected subaccount indicator SAI from among a pluralityof subaccount indicators SAIs, each of which is associated with adifferent subaccount SA within the primary account PA of the financialcard 110. Of course, the card reader 122, having a user interface 124,can also be configured for receiving an input from the user thatincludes the subaccount indicator SAI and possibly also a PersonalIdentification Number (PIN). The transaction processing system 104 canalso include a memory 127 and is configured with computer executableinstructions for performing the transaction processing operations. Anetwork interface 125 is configured to communicate with the financialaccount management system 102 for transaction authorization thatincludes transmitting the payment transaction PT information includingthe primary account number PAN, and the user selected subaccountindicator SAI to the system 102. If a PIN is also entered, the PIN canalso be transmitted. The network interface 125 is also configured toreceive a reply authorizing or denying or otherwise, as is described ingreater detail herein.

In some embodiments, a transaction payment device 110 such as afinancial card 110 can be implemented to enable the user to present theprimary account PA and the subaccount indicator SAI to a transactionentity for payment of a transaction amount. Of course, in someembodiments, as described above, the user can enter the subaccountindicator (SAI) in the user interface 124 of the transaction processingsystem 104. The transaction payment devices 110 can include a debitcard, a charge card or a smart card. For instance, when the transactionpayment device 110 or financial card (herein referred tointerchangeably) is a debit card, the financial card 110 can beconfigured to receive an input from the user that identifies one of thevarious available subaccounts SAs within their primary account PA thatis to be used for the payment of the particular transaction amount TA.This can be done by the user providing a single subaccount indicator SAIassociated with the selected subaccount SA to the transaction processingsystem 104 in conjunction with the providing of the primary accountnumber PAN. In such embodiments, and as will be described in greaterdetail below, the transaction processing system 104 can be configured toreceive not only the primary account number PAN and other standard userand financial card data, but also the subaccount indicator SAI.

One exemplary financial card 110 is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Asshown, the card has a body 150 having a front side 152 and a back side154, a primary account number PAN positioned on the front side 152.Additionally, the front side 152 typically also includes an issueridentification 156, a text name 158 of the user to which the card isissued, and an expiration date 160. As shown in FIG. 2B, a magneticstrip 162 is positioned on the back side 154. As shown and described inthis disclosure, the magnetic strip 162 has a predefined portion 164 anda user definable portion 166. The user definable portion 166 isconfigurable by the user at each time of use of the financial card 110for payment of the transaction amount from a particular user selectedsubaccount SA. A signature block 168 is also typically included. Theuser definable portion 166 can include, as will be described below, avariable field that accepts for each use, a user selected subaccountidentifier SAI from among the available subaccount identifier SAs withinthe primary account PA as identified by the primary account number PANfor the financial card 110. To accomplish this, the card 110 includes acard user interface 126 that is described in various exemplaryembodiments in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. The user interface 126 of the card110 can be configured for receiving a user selected subaccount indicatorSAI and for configuring the user definable portion to include thereceived user selected subaccount indicator SAI.

As described above, the transaction processing system 104 can includethe card reader 122 that is configured to read the financial card 110having the magnetic strip 162 with both the predefined portion 164 andthe user definable portion 166 for obtaining the primary account numberPAN and, where applicable, the user selected subaccount indicator SAIdirectly from the magnetic strip 162.

As one example, the system and method as described herein can utilizeexisting international standards for financial cards and the coding ofthe magnetic strip 162 wherein the transaction processing systems 104and their card readers 112 are similarly compliant. Generally, financialcards 110 are currently based on International Standards Organization(ISO) standard ISO 7813 that defines the magnetic coding for two of thethree separate magnetic tracks on the financial card, e.g., tracks 1 and2. ISO standard 4909 provides the formatting for track 3, which issometimes but not often used. These standards define the formatting forthe three magnetic tracks 170 (shown as a first track 170A, a secondtrack 170B, and a third track 170C in FIG. 2B). The capabilities of thestandard formatting for these tracks 170 can be utilized to enable thesystem of primary account PA with subaccounts SA as described herein.Some exemplary embodiments of such will now be briefly described by wayof example. Generally, any of the three tracks can be used to with thepresent disclosure. A brief description will address Track 1 and Track 2as these are typically used in financial cards 110.

As defined in ISO 7813, Track 1 170A is generally used with theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) and stores moreinformation than Track 2 170B that is used with the American BankingAssociation (ABA). However, many financial institutions utilize Track 1170A rather than Track 2 170B, as it includes the name of the userembedded on the magnetic strip 162. However, more than one track can beencoded and used on each card 110 and can be read by the card reader122. Track 1 170A includes the cardholder's name as well as primaryaccount number PAN and other discretionary data and as described herein,can also include the user definable portion 166 that includes thesubaccount identifier SAI. Track 2 170B is the track that is read bymost automatic teller machines (ATMs) and credit card checkers, and canalso include the user definable portion 166 with the subaccountidentifier SAI to be used for the particular payment transaction PT. TheABA designed the Track 2 170B specifications and all world banks areexpected to abide by its formatting. It contains the cardholder'sprimary account PAN, an encrypted PIN, and other discretionary data, inthe predefined portion 164 and can include the subaccount identifier SAIwithin the user definable portion 166.

The Track 1 170A includes up to 79 ALPHA 7-bit (including parity)characters (alphanumeric) and is defined as a read only format.consistent with the present disclosure, Track 1 170A can include thefollowing fields (in this order):|SS|FC|PAN|Name|FS|Additional Data|ES|LRC|

-   -   with each being defined as:    -   SS=Start Sentinel “%” (1 character)    -   FC=Format Code    -   PAN=Primary Acct. Number (maximum of 19 digits in accordance ISO        7812).    -   Name=26 alphanumeric characters max.    -   FS=Field Separator “^”    -   Additional Data=Expiration Date, offset, encrypted PIN, user        definable portion 166 with the subaccount identifier (SAI), etc.    -   ES=End Sentinel “?”    -   LRC=Longitudinal Redundancy Check

The Track 2 Layout slightly differs but is as follows:|SS|PAN|FS|Additional Data|ES|LRC|

-   -   SS=Start Sentinel “;”    -   PAN=Primary Acct. Number (maximum of 19 digits)    -   FS=Field Separator “=”    -   Additional Data=Expiration Date, offset, encrypted PIN, user        definable portion 166 with the subaccount identifier (SAI), etc.    -   ES=End Sentinel “?”    -   LRC=Longitudinal Redundancy Check

The Track 3 170C Layout is similar to the layouts of Tracks 1 and 2,170A and 170B, respectively, and is almost never used. The tracks 170for the magnetic strip 162 are shown in more detail in FIGS. 3A and 3B.As shown in FIG. 3B, the user definable portion 166 includes userdefinable portions of tracks 170A, 170B, and 170C, which are denoted astracks 170A′, 170B′, and 170C′. FIG. 3B also illustrates that the userdefinable portion 166 receives an input from a user definable controlmodule for providing the subaccount indicator SAI to the user definableportions as tracks 170A′, 170B′, and 170C′. Of course, as will beexplained in greater detail below, the user definable tracks 170A′,170B′, and 170C′ can also include the End Sentinel and the LRC in someembodiments.

For the particular system described herein, an explanation will bedescribed in more detail with regard to Track 2 170B formatting.

As described by the ABA, Track 2 170B uses up to 40 binary coded digits5-bit (including parity) characters (numeric) including for the SS, ESand LRC.

The primary account number PAN is defined by ISO 7812 and consists of afirst 6 digits that are used as the Issuer Identification Number. Thiscan include a Major Industry Identifier (MII) of up to 2 digits, whichcan include: Institutions other than card issuers; Airlines; Travel andentertainment; Banking/financial; Financial institutions not registeredby ISO; Merchandising and banking; Petroleum; Telecommunications; andTelecommunications administrations and private operating agencies.

The Issuer Identifier Number (IIN) is the next 3 to 5 digits identifyingthe issuer. In some cases the first digit indicates the length of theTIN or the responsibility of its assignment outside of ISO. If MII=9then the first 3 digits are the country code (CC). The IndividualAccount Identification (IAI) is up to 12 digits in length. This numberis assigned by the card issuing institution. A one digit Check Digit(CD) follows and is calculated using a Luhn formula for computingmodulus 10 “double-add-double” check digit as is known to those skilledin the art to complete the primary account number PAN and to ensureaccuracy of the number. Different companies use different codes. Forexample, one major credit card company has a variable number up to 16digits while another major credit card company uses 13 or 16 digitsincluding the check digit (CD).

The next field in the Field Separator (FS) that is 1 character inlength. The next field is the country code (CC) which is 3 digits inlength and is defined in ISO 3166. The next field is the Expiration Date(ED) in the 4 digit format: YYMM. Next, optional digits can include aService Code (SC) of 3 digits. The first digit of the SC from 0 to 9 isused for interchange and technology for financial transactions includingbilateral agreements with various countries.

The second digit of the SC is used for authorization processing withdigits 1, 3, 5-9 being reserved for future use and 0 being fortransactions that are authorized following the normal rules; 2 being fortransactions as authorized by the issuer and should be online, and 4being for transactions as authorized by the issuer and should be online,except under bilateral agreement.

The third digit of the SC is for the range of services and PINrequirements, including: No restrictions but a PIN is required; Norestrictions; Goods and services only (no cash); ATM only and PINrequired; Cash only; Goods and services only (no cash) and PIN required;No restrictions and require PIN when feasible; and Goods and servicesonly (no cash) and require PIN when feasible. If this field in not useda Field Separator FS is used.

Next, a PIN Verification Value (PVV) field of 5 digits is used by somefinancial institutions. Finally, the remaining characters on Track 2 areused for Discretionary Data that includes the Additional Data such asthe Expiration Date 160, an encrypted PIN, and the user definableportion 166 that includes the subaccount identifier (SAI). Finally, thecoding of the track 170 of magnetic strip 162 ends with a 1 characterEnd Sentinel (ES) and a 1 character Longitude Redundancy Check (LRC). Asthe LRC addresses the entire coding of the track 170 that includes boththe predefined portion 164 that is established by the card issuer andthe user definable portion 166 that is encoded by the user with each useof the card 110 for defining the particular subaccount SA via asubaccount identifier SAI to be used for the particular transaction, theuser definable portion 166 can also include the End Sentinel and/or therecalculated adaptable longitudinal redundancy check LRC that isrequired for processing and compliance with the ISO standards for thetrack formatting. In other words, an adaptable LRC is determined foreach of the subaccount identifiers (SAI) selected by the user to ensurethat the encoding of the magnetic strip 162 and in particular eachmagnetically encoded track 170 is encoded with the user definableportion 170′ that is appropriate to ensure proper reading and processingof the magnetic information on the financial card for each and every useof the card.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a financial card 110 suitable for usewith the present disclosure systems and methods, can include a card userinterface 126 that is comprised of blister buttons 174 positioned on oneof the sides 152 or 154 (practically will be the front side 152) of thebody 150 of the card 110. Each blister button 174 can be formed on asurface and within the card 110 and connected and include an electronicinterface (not shown) to the user definable controller 173 for providingthe selection of a particular blister button input from the user tospecify the particular subaccount identifier to the user definableportion 166. The card user interface 126 receives the user selectionwhen the user presses one of the blister buttons 174 at the time ofpurchase and prior to swiping the card 110 with it magnetic strip 162 inthe card reader 122 of the transaction processing system 104. Thecontroller 173 receives the user input from the selected blister buttoninput, and creates the internal electronic circuitry operations, encodesvia selectively magnetic energizing the user definable portion 166 toinclude the information on the desired user definable tracks 170A′,170B′ and 170C′ that includes the user selected subaccount identifierSAI. When the user pushes another blister button 174 of the card userinterface 126, the controller 173 creates operations for encoding thenew user input for the information on tracks 170′ of the user definableportion 166 for the next payment transaction PT.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the blister buttons 174 can include indicia 176 onthe card 110 that provides a textual description of the expenditurecategory thereby enabling the user to select the subaccount SA withouthaving to remember the subaccount identifier SAI at the time of thetransaction. All the user needs to do is to push the blister button 174with the describing indicia 176 for the particular purchase. Thecontroller 173 can determine the appropriate composing and encoding ofthe user definable portion as described above.

As noted, in some embodiments a financial card has a body with a frontsurface and a back surface and a primary account number associated witha primary account of a user of the financial card. The card has amagnetic strip positioned on the back surface configured for magneticencoding including the primary account number. The magnetic stripincludes a user definable portion for providing a selectablediscretionary encoding thereto. The card also includes a user interfacehaving at least one user input device positioned on the body of thefinancial card. The user interface is configured for receiving inputfrom the user at a time of use of the financial card for selecting aparticular account indicator from among a plurality of accountindicators each of which is associated with the primary account. Theuser interface is coupled to the user input device and to the userdefinable portion of the magnetic strip for providing the selectablediscretionary encoding to the user definable portion of the magneticstrip responsive to the selected particular account indicator asreceived by the user interface at the time of use by the user.

In some embodiments, the magnetic strip includes at least track 1 170Aand track 2 170B of encoded data consistent with ISO standards. In suchembodiments the user definable portion of the magnetic strip can beoperably coupled to the user interface for defining the user definableportion to include the particular account indicator in the additionaldata field of at least one of track 1 170A and track 2 170B.

The selectable discretionary encoding can include one or more definablebits. In some embodiments, one or more selectable magnetic energizingdevices, such as micro-energizable electromagnets, can be positionedproximate or behind the user definable portion 166 of the magnetic strip162 and in particular the user definable tracks 170A′, 170B′, and/or170C′. The selectable magnetic energizing device can be any suitabledevice for imparting a selective electrical encoding of a bit or bits tothe user definable tracks 170A′, 170B′, and/or 170C′ as know to thoseskilled in the art. In one embodiment, the selectable magneticenergizing devices can be a one or more magnetic coils positioned behindthe magnetic strip on the back surface of the body of the card. Eachselectable magnetic energizing device can be configured to provide anencoding of a single definable bit of the selectable discretionaryencoding. Each selectable magnetic energizing device can be selectablymagnetically energized responsive to the received user input selectingthe particular account indicator.

For example, in one embodiment, there are ten (10) buttons and ten (10)associated characters therewith and each character is encoded with fivedefinable bits using five selectable magnetic energizing devices. Thefive bits can include 4 character defining bits and a parity bit.However, those skilled in the art will recognize that other quantitiesand arrangements are also possible and within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

In some embodiments, the user definable portion includes an adaptablelongitudinal redundancy check (LRC) encoding having five LRC bits, forexample. Each of the user input devices is coupled to a differentselectable magnetic energizing device. One or more selectable magneticenergizing devices can be associated with a different one of the LRCbits. The different selectable magnetic energizing devices arepositioned proximate to the user definable portion of the magnetic stripfor providing the adaptable LRC encoding to the user definable portionof the magnetic strip. Such selective encoding is responsive to theselected particular account indicator as received by the user interfaceat the time of use by the user and to provide a proper LRC encoding tothe magnetic strip of the financial card that includes all of theinformation on the track 170 including the user definable portion 170′with the encoded user selected particular account indicator.

One exemplary embodiment of a user definable selectable magnetizingcircuit 800 for the financial card 110 with blister buttons 174 isillustrated in FIG. 8. As shown, the user interface 126 includes ten(10) user input devices in the form of blister buttons 174 as describedabove. Each blister button 174 as shown in the user definable selectablemagnetizing circuit 800 is operative coupled to selectably magnetize oneof the user definable track portions 170′. The magnetic strip 162includes the predetermined portion 164 and the user definable portion166. The user definable portion 166 includes the user definable trackportion 170′ that is shown in FIG. 5 to be a single track, track 2 170Bwith a user definable track portion being 1703. The user definable track2 portion 170B′ includes, but is not limited to, a single accountindicator character 806 that is encoded by five bits 808A-E forselectively encoding of an account indicator, such as the subaccountindicator (SAT), by way of example. Each blister button 174 isassociated with a particular predefined account indicator character 806.

Each bit 808 of user definable or selectable account indicator character806 includes one or more magnets 804, such as described above, forencoding thereof. As shown in this example, each bit 808 is defined bytwo magnets 804A and 804B. However, a single energizable magnet 804 isalso possible as described herein. Each button 174 is operativelycoupled to the bits 808 via bit magnetization controllers 814 forcontrolling and/or otherwise energizing magnets 804. The magnets 804 canbe operatively positioned behind the magnetic strip 162 for selectivelymagnetizing the encoding of the user definable track 2 170B′. The bitmagnetization controllers 814 are illustrated in FIG. 8 as D1P throughD0P. In this example, the account indicator character 806 is definedwith the bits 808 to include a first bit 808A, a second bit 808B, athird bit 808C, a fourth bit 808D, and a parity bit 808E. Each of theseis controlled by two bit selectively magnetized magnets 804A, 804B forencoding the bit 808 as either a one or a zero. The bit magnetizationcontrollers D01 and D11 are coupled to first bit 808A for selectivelyenergizing first bit 808A as required to encode the user selectedaccount indicator character 806 as selected by the user activating thebuttons 174 of user interface 126. The second bit 808B, third bit 808Cand fourth bit 808D are similarly associated with bit magnetizationcontrollers as illustrated. Additionally, the parity bit 808E isselectably magnetized by bit magnetization controllers D0P and D1P asrequired to encode the appropriate parity to the encoded character 806.

A similar coupling, control, energizing and selectable encoding of theLongitudinal Redundancy Check (LRC) is also shown in FIG. 8 responsiveto each user selected account indicator as received by the userinterface 126 by activation of one of the buttons 174. As discussedabove, an adaptable Longitudinal Redundancy Check (LRC) character 810must be specified and encoded on the track 2 170B user definable portion170B′ responsive to the user selecting a variable account indicator viaactivation of a button 174. The LRC must be adapted to ensure complianceof the each user selected account indicators with the industry standardISO 7813 so that the magnetic strip 162 can be read by a card reader andthe encoded information extracted therefrom for processing of thefinancial transaction using the card 110.

In this example, LRC character 810 is encoded by LRC bits 812A-812E.This includes a first LRC bit 812A, a second LRC bit 812B, a third LRCbit 812C, a fourth LRC bit 812D, and an LRC parity bit 812E. Each ofthese LRC bits 812 is energized by activating or energizing magnets 804Aand 804B as described above. Each of these LRC energizing magnets arecontrolled by a mated pair of LRC bit magnetization controllers 818 thatare shown as L01 through L11.

In operation of the circuit 800, a user accesses the user interface 126at the time of a transaction and selects or activates one of the tenbuttons 174. When the button is selected, the wiring 816 for that buttonsends control signals (not shown) to the operatively coupled bitmagnetization controllers 814 for selectively encoding the associatedaccount indicator character 806. The associated account indicator bits806 are energized as either a one or a zero to selectably magnetize orenergize the user definable portion 170B′ of track 2 170B to reflect theappropriate account indicator character 806. At the same time, theselected button 174 activates the associated LRC bit magnetizationcontrollers 818. The LRC bit magnetization controllers 818 associatedwith the user selected account indicator character 806 for determiningthe correct adaptable LRC encoding of the user magnetic track 2 170 arethen activated and/or energized. The LRC bit magnetization controllers818 control the activation of magnets 804A and 804B for each LRC bit 812to selectively encode the adaptable LRC character 810.

It should be recognized by those skilled in the art that the circuit 800of FIG. 8 is just one embodiment, and other embodiments for selectivelyenergizing the magnetic tracks 170 of magnetic strip 162 with thecharacter 806 and the LRC 810 are also within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

As shown illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B to carry a charge to change thepolarity of the 5 bits comprising a discretionary digit or character bitwithin the definition of additional data of Track 2 and the 5 bitscomprising the LRC (Longitudinal Redundancy Check) as defined in ISO7813.

The blister buttons identified by characters/digits 0 through 9 aredisplayed vertically down the center of the chart. Bit 0 through Bit 3and a Parity bit for the discretionary digit are labeled D11 through D1Pfor the polarities representing a 1 and D01 through D0P for thepolarities of 0. Bit 0 through Bit 3 and a Parity bit for the LRC arelabeled L11 through L1P for polarities representing 1 and L01 throughL0P for the polarities of 0.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C illustrate additional embodiments of a card 110having various user interfaces 126 and various controllers 173 forcomposing the user definable portion 166 of the magnetic strip 162 foruse with the present disclosure.

As shown in internal portions 178 of the card 110, FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5Cshows the interworkings of the card user interface 126 that include oneor more rotatable wheels 180 that rotate on a pivot 182 embedded withinthe body 150 of the card 110. The magnetic strip 162 include amechanically adjustable portion 184 associated with the user definableportion 166, and in this example, includes a variety of predefined userselected portions 186 each of which is pre-coded with a user definableportion 166 corresponding to one of the subaccount identifier SAI asselected by the user by rotation of the wheels 180. One of the wheels180 can be a user input wheel 180A that is the card user interface 126and that is rotatable by the user to select one of the subaccountindicators SAIs. By so operating the user input wheel 180A, thecorresponding predefined user selected portion 186 is moved into theposition of the user definable portion 166 of the magnetic strip 162 sothat the appropriate tracks 170A′, 170B′, and 170C′, are positioned forreading of the user selected subaccount identifier SAI. FIG. 5Billustrates embodiments wherein there are multiple wheels 180, eachbeing gears and coupled together for movement of the predefined portions164 of the magnetic strip 162.

FIG. 5C illustrates another embodiment. As shown, the wheel 180 hasspaced apart magnetic sections 190 each having an end 191 containing adifferent predefined user definable portion 186 having the userdefinable tracks 170A′, 170B′, and 170C′, that can be positioned withthe magnetic strip 162 and aligned with predefined portion 164 and itspredefined portions of tracks 170A, 170B, and 170C, for providing theuser definable portion 166 with the user selected subaccount identifierSAI. Each spaced apart magnetic section 190 can be, for example, apaddle having the magnetic section 190 positioned on the free end 191.The magnetic section 190 includes the user definable portion 166 eachhaving one of the subaccount indicators SAIs and possibly can alsoinclude any necessary sentinel character SC and the required adaptablelongitude redundancy check LRC character.

The body 150 of the card 110 can include the wheel 180 that has anaperture 192 that is dimensioned for receiving a key (not shown) orother mechanism for enabling the user to rotate the wheel 180, such aswith a finger or finger nail of the user. While not shown, the wheel 180can be restricted in various manners from arbitrarily moving or rotatingwithout user input, such as known to those skilled in the art. The wheel180 can be selectively held in place after positioning by the user,either by friction or possibly a selective or limited locking portion orstop mechanism that can include a ratchet or similar device. In thismanner, the wheel 180 is held in place until the user intentionallymakes a change to the subaccount to be used for the next transaction.Additionally, each spaced apart magnetic section 190 can include indicia194 that can be visible to the user for aiding in selection of thesubaccount SA for the particular payment transaction PT.

As shown in FIG. 6, a display window 196 can be positioned on the front152 of the card 110 proximate to one of the wheels 180 such that indicia194 on one of the wheels 180 is visible to the user of the card 110 atthe time of each use. The indicia 194 can be the subaccount indicatorSAI or can be a textual description or a symbol or drawing indicatingthe subject matter of the subaccount. This can aid the user in selectingthe subaccount SA at the time of use of the card 110 and therefore inmanaging their personal financials.

In other embodiments while not shown in the figures, the financial card110 as described herein is a smart card. In such embodiments, the cardreader 122 is configured to receive from the smart card 110 the primaryaccount number PAN and the user selected subaccount indicator SAI. Inone such exemplary smart card embodiment, a financial transaction card110 includes a body 150 and an integrated microprocessor (not shown butknown to those skilled in the art) and memory including a primaryaccount number PAN having a plurality of subaccounts SAs, eachsubaccount SA having a different subaccount indicator SAI. A userinterface 124 is configured to receive a user selection of one of thesubaccount indicators SAIs and providing the user selected subaccountindicator SAI to the integrated microprocessor. An output interface (notshown but know to those skilled in the art) is configured to provide theprimary account number PAN and the user selected subaccount indicatorSAI to the transaction processing system 104 that is configured forprocessing smart cards for user transactions.

It should also be understood that while the exemplary embodiments asdescribed herein relate to prefunded primary account PA and subaccountsSAs, the systems and methods hereof can also be suitable for use withcredit card payment and processing systems 104. The primary differencein such embodiments is that there is not necessarily a check on theamount of prefunded amounts in a subaccount. However, as describedherein, the user can establish subaccounts limits within his primarycredit card account or credit card limit, and in such a manner, canpersonally manage his credit and/or expenditures. This can also beutilized to aid in the user allocating and managing his creditexpenditures at least with regard to subdividing his monthly statementsinto subtotals or allocations on his monthly billing statements.

The transaction amount for a purchase by the user is determined at thepoint of sale that can include an on-line transaction processing system108 or third party agent who enters the payment transaction PTinformation. The on-line transaction processing system 108 includes acommunication interface 132 that can be a telephone line or a web portalor webpage. The user provides the primary account PA, and the subaccountindicator SAI to complete the payment transaction PT and the payment ofthe transaction amount TA from the user selected subaccount SA. Asdescribed above, the user can provide the subaccount indicator SAIeither verbally, or via the communication interface 132 such as an entryinto a webpage. Of course other user information can also be providedsuch as may be required for the particular application. The on-lineprocessing system 108 processes the payment transaction PT in a similarmanner as described above, including the provision of the subaccountidentifier SAI as provided by the user for use with the particularpayment transaction PT.

The transaction processing system 104 is configured to receive apersonal identification number having at least one variable characterselected by the user from among a plurality of available variablecharacters each of which is associated with a different subaccount. Thefinancial account management system is configured to receive thepersonal identification number (PIN) from the transaction processingsystem 104 to verify the payment of the transaction amount from theprimary account PA and from the subaccount responsive to the receivedpersonal identification number.

The herein the transaction processing system 104 is an onlineinternet-based payment transaction system having a hosted user interfaceconfigured for prompting the user to input both the primary account PAand the particular subaccount for payment of the transaction amount.

The transaction processing system 104 is configured to receive apersonal identification number at the time of the payment transactionPT, the personal identification number having two portions, a fixedpredefined portion and a user definable portion, the user definableportion being user defined at the time of the transaction for specifyingone of the available subaccount indicators SAIs.

The transaction processing system 104 is configured to receive thesubaccount indicator SAI, an associated end sentinel character, and theadaptable longitude redundancy check (LRC) character.

As described, the various user financial cards 110 for personalfinancial management can include using a debit card. To accomplish this,the user would open a debit card primary account PA having a primaryaccount number PAN with a financial institution. The financialinstitution would then issue to the user. The financial institutionwould issue a suitable financial card 110 to the user. At the same time,the user could establish a plurality of subaccounts SAs within theprimary account PA with each being uniquely identified with a separatesubaccount indicator SAI. The client and/or financial institution wouldthen provide for a prefunding of each of the subaccounts SAs andmaintain such prefunding on a monthly or bi-monthly pre-funded amount.The method also includes selecting one of the subaccount indicators SAIsfor use as payment of a transaction amount TA. A payment of atransaction amount TA is initiated from the primary account PA using thedebit card 110 along with the user selected subaccount indicator SAI.

Referring to FIG. 7, an operating environment for an illustratedembodiment of the transaction processing system 104 and/or the financialaccount management system 102 can include, in one embodiment, a computersystem 700 with a computer 702 that comprises at least one high speedprocessing unit (CPU) 704, in conjunction with a memory system 706interconnected with at least one bus structure 708, an input device 710,and an output device 712. These elements can be interconnected by atleast one bus structure 712.

The illustrated CPU 704 is of familiar design and includes an arithmeticlogic unit (ALU) 714 for performing computations, a collection ofregisters 714 for temporary storage of data and instructions, and acontrol unit 716 for controlling operation of the system 700. Any of avariety of processors, including at least those from Digital Equipment,Sun, MIPS, Motorola, NEC, Intel, Cyrix, AMD, HP, and Nexgen, are equallypreferred for the CPU X. The illustrated exemplary embodiment operateson an operating system designed to be portable to any of theseprocessing platforms.

The memory system 706 generally includes high-speed main memory 720 inthe form of a medium such as random access memory (RAM) and read onlymemory (ROM) semiconductor devices, and secondary storage 722 in theform of long term storage mediums such as floppy disks, hard disks,tape, CD-ROM, flash memory, etc. and other devices that store data usingelectrical, magnetic, optical or other recording media. The main memory720 also can include video display memory for displaying images througha display device. Those skilled in the art will recognize that thememory system 706 can comprise a variety of alternative componentshaving a variety of storage capacities.

The input device 710 and output device 712 are also familiar. The inputdevice 710 can comprise a keyboard, a mouse, a physical transducer (e.g.a microphone), etc. and is interconnected to the computer 702 via aninput interface 724. The output device 712 can comprise a display, aprinter, a transducer (e.g. a speaker), etc, and be interconnected tothe computer 702 via an output interface 726. Some devices, such as anetwork adapter or a modem, can be used as input and/or output devices.

As is familiar to those skilled in the art, the computer system 700further includes an operating system and at least one applicationprogram. The operating system is the set of software which controls thecomputer system's operation and the allocation of resources. Theapplication program is the set of software that performs a task desiredby the user, using computer resources made available through theoperating system. Both are resident in the illustrated memory system706.

In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art ofcomputer programming, the present disclosure is described below withreference to symbolic representations of operations that are performedby the computer system 700. Such operations are sometimes referred to asbeing computer-executed. It will be appreciated that the operationswhich are symbolically represented include the manipulation by the CPU704 of electrical signals representing data bits and the maintenance ofdata bits at memory locations in the memory system 706, as well as otherprocessing of signals. The memory locations where data bits aremaintained are physical locations that have particular electrical,magnetic, or optical properties corresponding to the data bits. Thesystem or components thereof as described herein can be implemented in aprogram or programs, comprising a series of instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium can be any of thedevices, or a combination of the devices, described above in connectionwith the memory system 706.

When describing elements or features and/or embodiments thereof, thearticles “a”, “an”, “the”, and “said” are intended to mean that thereare one or more of the elements or features. The terms “comprising”,“including”, and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean thatthere may be additional elements or features beyond those specificallydescribed.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes can be madeto the exemplary embodiments and implementations described above withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshould be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is further to be understood that the processes or steps describedherein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring theirperformance in the particular order discussed or illustrated. It is alsoto be understood that additional or alternative processes or steps maybe employed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A financial card having a body with a frontsurface and a back surface and a primary account number associated witha primary account of a user of the financial card, the card comprising:a magnetic strip positioned on the back surface magnetically encodingthe primary account number, the magnetic strip including a userdefinable portion for providing a selectable discretionary encodingthereto, the user definable portion having a plurality of selectablemagnetic energizing devices positioned behind the magnetic strip, eachselectable magnetic energizing device with a single bit of informationof the user definable portion and a plurality of bit magnetizationcontrollers having a magnetic energizing output interface electricallycoupled to one of the selectable magnetic energizing devices and one ormore control input interfaces for receiving an activation control inputthereto; and a user interface having a plurality of user input devicespositioned on the body of the financial card, the user interfaceconfigured for receiving an input from the user at a time of use of thefinancial card selecting a particular account indicator from among aplurality of account indicators each of which is associated with theprimary account of the financial card for processing of a transactionamount to a particular account associated with the user selected accountindicator, each user input device of the user interface is electricallycoupled to at least one of the control input interfaces of one or moreof the bit magnetization controllers of the user definable portion ofthe magnetic strip for providing selectable discretionary activatingenergy thereto responsive to receiving the input from the user of theparticular user input device, and wherein the bit magnetizationcontroller is responsive to receiving the activating energy from theelectrically coupled user input device and generating a magneticenergizing energy over the magnetic energizing output interface forencoding a single bit of the user definable portion of the magneticstrip responsive to the selected particular account indicator asreceived by the user interface.
 2. The financial card of claim 1 whereinthe magnetic strip includes at least one of track 1 and track 2 ofencoded data consistent with ISO standards and wherein the userdefinable portion of the magnetic defines the user definable portion toinclude the particular account indicator in the additional data field ofat least one of track 1 and track
 2. 3. The financial card of claim 1wherein user input device is a blister button formed on the frontsurface of the card.
 4. The financial card of claim 1 wherein the userinput device includes a plurality of buttons, with each button being oneof the user input devices, each button being associated with a differentone of the plurality of account indicators.
 5. The financial card ofclaim 4 wherein the selectable discretionary encoding includes one ormore selectable characters, each of which is encoded with a plurality ofdefinable bits, each of which is associated with one of the selectablemagnetic energizing devices positioned proximate to the user definableportion of the magnetic strip wherein each selectable magneticenergizing.
 6. The financial card of claim 5 wherein each magneticenergizing output interface of each bit magnetization controller iselectrically coupled to one of the selectable magnetic energizingdevices of selectively establishing the polarity of the electricallycoupled selectable magnetic energizing device.
 7. The financial card ofclaim 6 wherein there are ten buttons and ten associated characterstherewith and each character is encoded with five definable bits usingfive selectable magnetic energizing devices.
 8. The financial card ofclaim 7 wherein the user definable portion includes an adaptablelongitudinal redundancy check (LRC) encoding having five LRC bits andwherein each of the ten user input devices is electrically coupled to adifferent five selectable magnetic energizing devices, each of which isassociated with a different one of the five LRC bits, and wherein thedifferent five selectable magnetic energizing devices are positionedproximate to the user definable portion of the magnetic strip forproviding the adaptable LRC encoding to the user definable portion ofthe magnetic strip responsive to the selected particular accountindicator as received by the particularly electrically coupled userinput device of the user interface at the time of use by the user and toprovide a proper LRC encoding to the magnetic strip of the financialcard.
 9. The financial card of claim 1 wherein the user definableportion includes an adaptable longitudinal redundancy check (LRC)encoding and wherein the user interface electrically couples the userinput device to the user definable portion of the magnetic strip byelectrically coupling each user input device directly to the five bitmagnetization controllers that are then electrically coupled directly toone of the five selectable magnetic energizing devices of the LRC forproviding the adaptable LRC encoding to the user definable portion ofthe magnetic strip responsive to the selected particular accountindicator as received by the user interface at the time of use by theuser and to provide a proper LRC encoding to the magnetic strip of thefinancial card.
 10. The financial card of claim 1, further comprising adisplay window positioned on the front side of the body, the displaywindow being configured for displaying indicia indicating the particularaccount indicator received from the user by the user interface.
 11. Thefinancial card of claim 10 wherein the indicia is selected from thegroup consisting of single bit numerals and descriptive text labels. 12.The financial card of claim 1 wherein each selectable magneticenergizing device is a magnetic coil positioned behind the magneticstrip on the back surface of the body and provides for the magneticencoding of the single bit of the user definable portion of the magneticstrip as a zero or as a one.
 13. The financial card of claim 1 whereinthe user definable portion includes a subaccount indicator portiondefined as a plurality of subaccount bits for defining a subaccountcharacter and a longitudinal redundancy check (LRC) portion defined as aplurality of LRC bits, each of which includes one of the selectablemagnetic energizing devices for each bit thereof, each also having aparity bit as one of the plurality of bits.
 14. The financial card ofclaim 13 wherein there are five subaccount bits defined by fiveselectable magnetic energizing devices and five LRC bits defined by fivedifferent magnetic energizing bits.
 15. The financial card of claim 14wherein there are ten user input devices and twenty separate bitmagnetization controllers with ten being associated the subaccount bitsand ten being associated with the LRC bits, wherein each of the ten userinput devices is electrically coupled to five of the bit magnetizationcontrollers of the subaccount bits and five of the bit magnetizationcontrollers of the LRC bits.
 16. The financial card of claim 13 whereineach user input device is electrically coupled directly to a pluralityof the bit magnetization controllers associated with the subaccount bitsand directly to a plurality of the bit magnetization controllersassociated with the LRC bits.
 17. The financial card of claim 1 whereineach selectable magnetic energizing device as a first input for definingthe bit as a zero and a second input for defining the bit as a one, andwhere there are two bit magnetization controllers for each selectablemagnetic energizing device with a first bit magnetization controllerbeing electrically coupled directly to the first input thereof and thesecond bit magnetization controller being electrically coupled directlyto the second input.
 18. The financial card of claim 17 wherein each tothe two bit magnetization controllers for each selectable magneticenergizing device is electrically coupled directly to two or more of theuser input devices.
 19. The financial card of claim 17 wherein the userdefinable portion includes a subaccount indicator portion defined as aplurality of subaccount bits for defining a subaccount character and alongitudinal redundancy check (LRC) portion defined as a plurality ofLRC bits, each of which includes a different one of the selectablemagnetic energizing devices for each bit thereof, wherein each differentone of the selectable magnetic energizing devices is electricallycoupled directly to a pair of the bit magnetization controllers, andeach bit magnetization controller being electrically coupled directly toat least two different user input devices.
 20. A financial card having abody with a front surface and a back surface, a magnetic strip, and aprimary account number associated with a primary account of a user ofthe financial card, the card comprising: means for receiving aparticular subaccount indicator from among a plurality of subaccountindicators associated with the primary account at the time of use of thefinancial card for a financial transaction; means for determining avalue of an adaptable longitudinal redundancy check responsive to thereceived particular subaccount indicator; and means for encoding a userdefinable portion of the magnetic strip to include the receivedparticular subaccount indicator and the value of the adaptablelongitudinal redundancy check.